From Southern Mexico, where it is epiphytic in cloud forests around Puebla, Morelos, Oaxaca, 2000m. ( Rauh, 1979). Other reports indicate it grows in dry places on cacti and trees at 690 to 2400m altitude (Smith and Downes, 1977) We have found the plant does not flower well when grown in our heated, humid growing-on house and is much happier in a cooler, more shaded spot in the shadehouse.
It has been reported in California that when grown in a 4 inch pot in a standard bromeliad mix this species grows much larger than when grown epiphytically (as we do).
